The present invention relates to a thermal energy device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a thermal energy device characterized as a vapor or thermal engine which derives power by utilizing a working fluid which can be vaporized at relatively low temperatures and condensed by thermal variations or temperature differences.
Vapor engines, engines of the type from which power is derived from the alternate expansion and contraction of a fluid medium that can be vaporized and condensed at relatively low temperatures can be found in the prior art. Generally, these vapor engines are constructed by providing a rotatably mounted frame supporting a plurality of expansion chambers, which are alternately immersed and withdrawn from a fluid medium which is a source of heat. The fluid medium is ordinarily water. Within each expansion chamber is a quantity of relatively volatile liquid which vaporizes at a temperature below that of the surrounding fluid medium. By and large, these prior art vapor engines are generally complex and due to their complexity are not efficient or are not practical.
With the world-wide depletion of fossil fuels, utilization of other energy sources has become critical. Much emphasis has been placed on the utilization of solar energy. Solar radiation, sunlight, represents a vast energy source. The rate at which the earth receives energy from the sun, expressed in terms of heat energy according to the "solar constant" is 1.938 calories per square centimeter per minute. It is estimated that the amount of solar energy directed by the sun upon the earth in just three days in equivalent to the earth's total supply of all fossil fuels.
Other areas of research and investigation have been directed to utilizing energy sources such as geothermal energy. The present invention can be utilized with various sources of heat for energy such as those mentioned, which can be extracted and converted to mechanical energy.
As mentioned above, solar engines or thermal devices are well known for producing mechanical movement through the vaporization and condensation of a volatile liquid. Reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 3,509,716 in which a plurality of tanks are arranged in a circumferential path. Each diametric pair of tanks are interconnected by a fluid passage. The circumferential array of tanks is disposed for rotation in a vertical plane, the tanks containing a volatile liquid. The lower tank of each pair is heated by solar means, while the upper tank is cooled by a water spray. The liquid in the lower tank is heated and vaporized and rises through interconnecting passages to the upper tank. Upon cooling, the vapor is condensed. The presence of liquid in the upper tank and the vapor in the corresponding lower tank causes an imbalance and imparts rotation to the structure.
A similar solar powered structure is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,911,456, in which one or more pairs of bulbs are in fluid interconnection and contain a volatile liquid. One bulb of each pair of bulbs is protected from solar energy, while the other of the bulbs is exposed to solar energy. The exposed bulb becomes heated and forces the liquid through an interconnecting passage to the opposite bulb creating a mechanical imbalance.
Other patents showing vapor motors of the general type are U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,659,416 and 3,984,985.